The present invention relates to an air intake grille which is mounted at an air outlet of an automobile or the like and has an air flow guide member mounted on a housing in such a manner that the direction of air flow can be adjusted using a control member.
An air intake grille of the type described above is mounted at an air outlet A provided in a dashboard of an automobile as shown in FIG. 1. This air intake grille is arranged as illustrated in FIGS. 2 and 3. The grille includes air flow guide members which are composed of two groups, that is, a first guide member group 102 constituted by a plurality of vertical blades (elements) 101 for adjusting the direction of air flow to the left or right and a second guide member group 104 which is constituted by a plurality of horizontal blades (elements) 103 for adjusting the direction of air flow upwards or downwards. The first and second guide members 102 and 104 are mounted in a housing 105 when the split front and rear portions 106 and 107 of the housing 105 are joined together in such a manner that support shafts 101a which project from both ends of each vertical blade 101 and support shafts 103a which project from both ends of each horizontal blade 103 are respectively fitted into the corresponding shaft-receiving bores provided in both the upper and lower walls and the right and left walls. Pins 101b and 103b which project from both ends of each vertical blade 101 and each horizontal blade 103 are fitted into the corresponding shaft-receiving bores 111a and 112a provided in link plates 111 and 112 so that each of the first guide member group 102 (the vertical blades 101) and the second guide member group 104 (the horizontal blades 103) can move in one unit in response to the movement of the corresponding link plate 111 or 112. The control lever (control member) 113 has a grip 113a which projects from the front side of the housing 105. The control lever 113 further has a slot 113b formed in its center and a U-shaped notch 113c formed at its distal end. One of the vertical blades 101 is inserted into the slot 113b, and one of the horizontal blades 103 is engaged with the notch 113c. Accordingly, the direction of air flow can be adjusted both horizontally and vertically by pivoting the control lever 113 horizontally and moving the same vertically, respectively. It must be noted that the split front and rear portions 106 and 107 of the housing 105 are inseparably connected together when joined in such a manner that pawl plates 107a which are provided on the rear portion 107 firmly elastically engage with respective engagement bores 106a provided in the front portion 106. In the illustrated example, the reference numeral 115 denotes a mounting boss which is cut with an internal thread. The elements or parts which constitute the air intake grille, such as the housing and the blades, are generally formed by injection molding of a synthetic resin such as ABS, PP and polyamide.
An air intake grille with the above arrangement, however, suffers from the following problems.
(a) Since the adjustment of the direction of air flow in horizontal and vertical directions is independently effected by the first and second guide member groups, respectively, it is generally necessary to conduct a troublesome operation in which the control level is actuated in two steps for effecting the adjustment of air flow in the horizontal and vertical directions.
(b) Since the guide members are supported in the directions orthogonal to the longitudinal direction of the housing, it is necessary to split the housing into two portions and to form a mechanism for combining the split portions. This means that the configuration of the housing is complicated, and the cost of making a mold for the housing increased.
(c) Since the housing is split into two portions, and it is necessary to assemble the first and second guide member groups using separate blades, the time and labor required for assembling the grille are increased.